Kauri Cliffs hotel review

In brief

First impression Far-flung country estate.Staff Effortless.Food & drink Locally caught and snared.Bed & bath Soft as treacle. The crowd Prefects. In a nutshell A New Zealand lodge worth travelling for.

Set the sceneRemote, brilliantly balanced championship lodge for really getting to grips with the wide-open outdoors and a golf club. This Southern-plantation-style lodge, reached after a bouncy drive down a country track in wild backcountry, has an air that’s part Hamptons, part farm. Any formality is dispelled by the presence of sheep.

What’s the story?Forty years ago, US owner Julian Robertson took a sabbatical in New Zealand to write the great American novel. His book never saw the light of day, but never mind because back in the USA he set up a hedge-fund company that made him a billionaire – and he returned to build his fantasy golf retreat on a 6,000-acre working sheep farm, with one of the world’s greatest courses designed by David Harman.

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What can we expect from the bedrooms?The open fire in the corner sets the tone. When the temperature drops at dark, retreat to your armchair in front of the flames, staring out across the golf course to the Pacific. There’s an enormous flatscreen TV and a sound system with a floor-shaking bass, but this room’s all about the fireplace, and that view.

How about the food and drink? Fresh-from-the-farm lamb is the hero of the kitchen and makes a daily appearance on the menu. You won’t taste a better lamb shank in New Zealand. It’s farm-to-table and boat-to-plate, with snapper fished out of the sea that morning. And try the local kingfish, a Northland speciality. Dinner is included, as well as breakfast, best taken on the enclosed veranda for eye-rubbing views.

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Anything stand out about the service?Familiar but unstintingly formal, although hitching rides to the beach with staff will help get behind the veneer. The concierge can organise everything helicopter rides to private catamaran charters across the nearby Bay Of Islands. Be bold, ask away.

What type of person stays here?Americans, including Barack and Michelle Obama, and a fleet of Silver Foxes – a smart-rolling 55-plus-club, whose talk begins with golf and moves onto buying property in New Zealand.

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What’s the neighbourhood scene like?There’s nothing but farmland for miles in every direction. The nearest dining options are 30 minutes’ drive away in the increasingly fashionable hamlet of Kerikeri; while in the old whaling town of Russell (75 minutes), the Duke Of Marlborough Hotel has a cracking seafood restaurant.

Anything we missed?The 18-hole championship course runs across 4,500 acres of farmland right to the edge of the cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean. And there’s never a crowd. Then again, the spa is a heck of a place to spend your day, set beside a stream in native forest. Trails lead down to deserted bays of white and pink sand, where orcas and whales pass by.

And anything you’d change?While the jacket rule brings an air of civility to dinner times, it’s a little out of keeping with the hotel’s modern take on the traditional golf retreat.

Is it worth it – and why?There have been even fancier retreats built in New Zealandsince, but surely nothing can beat the Pacific views at The Lodge At Kauri Cliffs, no matter where you sleep, eat, drink or tee off. [i]By Craig Tansley[/I]